


Merrythought

by Socchan



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blanket Permission, Cliffhangers, F/M, Headcanon, Identity Issues, Not Enough Puns, Podfic Welcome, Prompt Fic, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 03:26:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15787977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Socchan/pseuds/Socchan
Summary: What happens when there's no akumatized supervillain for Ladybug's Lucky Charm to thwart? What if Ladybug wasn't even fighting any crime when she summoned it? What "problem" would the spell try to "fix"?





	Merrythought

"Bye-bye, little butterfly," Ladybug said, waving the purified akuma off, a worried crease between her brows.

"Well, that was quick," Cat Noir observed, coming up beside her and offering his fist. "Pound it," they said in unison as Ladybug brought her own fist up to meet it. "Not that I'm complaining," he continued when their ritual was completed. "I was already overbooked today, and I hate making excuses, even though we do have a good reason."

Ladybug made a face. "I know what you mean. I'm late for a meeting with some friends right now, but I couldn't exactly let a supervillain go unchecked! Some days I just wish I could be in two places at once."

Cat nodded. "Or more," he added. "Sometimes I think about what life would be like if Timebreaker had worked out differently."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder good-naturedly. "I'm sure you do, tomcat. I remember that 'two Ladybugs' remark of yours!"

"Not like that!" he protested, then paused. "Well, okay, _sometimes_ like that, but mostly I wish you had someone else who could back you up. Your powers are the ones that ultimately fix things when supervillains are on the loose, and I think it would help lessen the pressure on you if there was someone else who could take care of them from time to time. Not to mention deal with the press and all the public expectations put on you..."

Ladybug smiled back at him. "That's sweet of you. For the record, I think it also would have been nice if Copycat hadn't been a villain, so you could have some backup, too. I know you've got a lot on your plate, and having an extra Cat Noir around from time to time could help you out with that." She shook her head. "Anyway, that still doesn't help much with _today_ ," she said, sweeping a hand out to indicate all the wreckage the akuma had caused. The fight may have been short, but it still left a lot of collateral damage.

Cat Noir winced. "Any idea how to fix all this, since we didn't need your Lucky Charm to beat it?"

"I think, if I summon my Lucky Charm now, it'll still work," Ladybug replied. "I've used it outside of a battle before, but never without an active akuma present."

Her partner shrugged. "It's worth a try, right?"

Ladybug nodded and threw her yoyo in the air. "Lucky Charm!" she called out, summoning the item that would hopefully fix the damage wrought by that day's akuma. Her eyebrows shot up at what fell into her hands. "A wishbone?"

"Well?" said Cat. "Try it, My Lady!"

She shook her head. "It's not quite that simple. See, in order for the miraculous cleansing to work, the Lucky Charm has to be _used_. Remember Animan?"

Cat Noir shuddered. "Only every other nightmare."

Ladybug smiled sympathetically and patted his shoulder. "Well, the only reason I went back in was because I hadn't used the Lucky Charm for anything. If I hadn't used it to open Animan's mouth, nothing would have gone back to normal after, even though we could have captured and cleansed the akuma that turned him into a supervillain without it. All the animals would still be on the loose, and that bus would still be destroyed, in addition to everything else."

"Hmm," Cat said thoughtfully. "Well, I can't say I agree with your methods, Bugaboo, but I guess I can understand why you jumped into a T-rex's mouth, now. How do we use this one, then?"

Ladybug shrugged and held one end of the wishbone out to him. "The same way we use normal wishbones, I would think: Make a wish, and then pull."

Cat's eyes lit up. "I know what _I'm_ wishing for!" he declared.

"Dream on, Kitty," Ladybug countered, a smile gracing her lips. "Ready to go? On three. One, two, _three!_ "

With a snap, the wishbone came apart between them. "Huh," Cat said, turning his piece over in his hands. "I've never seen one split down the middle like that." He grinned. "I guess this means we're _both_ getting our wish!"

"There's a nice thought," Ladybug replied. Taking Cat Noir's half of the wishbone from him, she tossed both pieces into the air, calling out, "Miraculous Ladybug!" to activate the spell that would heal the city. Glowing, magic ladybugs swarmed the street to either side of them, and finally swept both heroes up in localized twisters before vanishing.

The two heroes blinked the sparkles from their eyes, then gaped. Standing next to each of them were some very familiar civilians.

"Marinette?" " _Adrien_?"

"What the heck is going on here?!"

**Author's Note:**

> Muahahahahaha >:3c
> 
> Seriously, though, that is the only reason I could come up for the Animan thing. And then I started wondering about what would happen if Lucky Charm was summoned under other circumstances, and, well, this.
> 
> Unfortunately, that was as far as the plunny got ;P If any of you lovely folks would like to pick things up from here and tell me what happens next, I would love to read it! My typical offer of "Use Chat instead of Cat if you're more comfortable with that!" extends to any continuation writers as well as potential podficcers, this time :3b
> 
> Final note: According to Ye Olde Farmer's Wikipedia, "merrythought" is what people called wishbones when the practice of pulling them apart to make a wish first started. (I couldn't find any mention of whether or not the practice was widespread, so I'm assuming it made it to France. If I'm wrong, though, please tell me and I'll sneak in a fix.)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
